EB5 Visa Immigrant Investor Pilot Program - Will Congress Make it Permanent?
Advocates of the EB5 Visa Immigrant Investor Pilot Program keep wondering why Congress doesn't make this beneficial program permanent. At this time, it is set to expire on September 30, 2012, having been extended yet again for three years in 2009.
Created on October 6, 1992 by Section 610 of Public Law 102-395 the EB5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program has been extended several times.
The length of time it takes between your decision to file an EB5 Petition until successful completion varies greatly. Before you even become involved with the USCIS and file your initial application, the I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, you must make many important decisions. First of all, you must have decided to invest in the Pilot Program as opposed to the Stand Alone EB5 Program. That will take some diligent research on your part.
Once you've decided, for example, on the EB5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program , you must carefully set up your "team" - a knowledgeable consultant to guide you through the process, an immigration lawyer who has handled many EB5 cases, and a Certified Public Account to make sure you understand all the ramifications of relocating to the United States.
After researching, choosing, and funding a Regional Center program, you are then ready to file the necessary documents with the USCIS. This is the initial Petition, the I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur. At the present time, approval of the I-526 is taking about five months, which is a great improvement over the 6 months to a year it took before.
When the I-526 is approved you file the I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status to receive your Conditional Permanent Residence status, which is good for two years. In the 90-days prior to the end of the two years, you must file the I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions. Once it is approved, you will have your permanent US Green Card.
So, you can see, it takes a long time to go from point A to Point B and one can only hope that Congress will make this all-important immigration program permanent so it can benefit foreign investors for many years to come.
